Dubious Result in 911-Lawsuit

9/11 victims awarded damages against Iraq

By Shaun Waterman

Published 5/7/2003 5:47 PM

WASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) --

A federal judge in New York Wednesday awarded damages against the government of Iraq after ruling that the families of two victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings had shown "albeit barely" that Iraq had provided material support to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida.

Judge Harold Baer ruled that the two families were entitled to $104 million compensation from Iraq, bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban movement and their government of Afghanistan. He had entered a default judgment against these defendants on Dec. 23, 2002, after they failed to show up to contest the case.

But he dismissed the families' suit against deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on the basis that -- as head of state -- he enjoyed absolute immunity.

Lawyers for the two families said they would attempt to recover the money from the $1.7 billion in Iraqi assets frozen in the United States... ..."Plaintiffs have shown, albeit barely, 'by evidence satisfactory to the court' that Iraq provided material support to bin Laden and al-Qaida."

Baer said that most of the evidence the families had tried to introduce -- such as TV interviews with unidentified Iraqi defectors -- was "classically hearsay" or even "multiple hearsay" -- second or third hand. He said his decision was based only on the opinion testimony of the families' two expert witnesses, former CIA Director James Woolsey Jr., and author Laurie Mylroie.

James Beasley, lawyer for the family of George Eric Smith,is from Beasley, Albert, Hewson & Casey, which is "concentrating on personal injury litigation".

Beasley admitted to Bar in 1956. Author: Handbook on the Uniform Commercial Code, 1956. Listed in: Who's Who in American Law; Who's Who in the World; Who's Who in America; The Best Lawyers in America. "A" rated by Martindale Hubbell. Pilot's License, 1950. Member: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

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printed from Dubious Result in 911-Lawsuit on 2004-06-22 21:03:08